Yronwood is invested. Girded by a new wall—a wall of earth, surrounded by a trench—in which some five thousand of the king’s force shall remain, to build siege engines and to hold the blockade of the mighty Dornish-held castle, Yronwood is as firmly under siege as it was when King Daeron first broke through the Boneway some four years ago. A boy of 14 then, the Young Dragon would go on to great glory, glory to match Aegon the Conqueror, when Sunspear bent its knee and the rest of of Dorne followed. The years since have been difficult, with Dorne unruly, with hundreds, thousands killed by rebels. Dorne exploded in rebellion when Lord Tyrell was killed, and so here is the king. He sought to save Yronwood, one of his last bastions, to use it to spring deeper into Dorne and make their knees bend once more. That was snatched from him, by some stratagem, and it nearly killed him when the Dornish surprised him with Yronwood’s sudden resistance against him.

But now, it is once more under siege, and it is a siege made to be able to defend itself. Why? For the king will not rest there, waiting weeks, months for the castle to fall again. No, though he leaves nearly a third of his force behind, the king has given the command: the rest of the army—knights and lords, men-at-arms and archers, crossbowmen from Braavos, and more—shall proceed from Yronwood towards the source of the Scourge, and follow that ill-named river on to the walled town and castle of Godsgrace. A Dornish army half—less, even—than his own, even after leaving so many men at Yronwood, lurks beyond the horizon, but he doesn’t fear it. He’ll march, march to Godsgrace, the gateway to Sunspear, and bring that castle down though all the spears of Dorne oppose him. That, he knows.